Plastic zone development in dynamic tear-type test specimens

Abstract

The J-integral is a fracture criterion, which permits measurement of the fracture toughness of a specimen where fracture occurs in the elastic–plastic regime. An understanding of the ratio of plastic zone size (radius) to the crack tip blunting (stretch zone) is required to determine the upper temperature for transition curves, where elastic–plastic fracture becomes invalid and general yielding occurs. This study endeavors to acquire this ratio using finite element techniques. The development of the plastic zone in dynamic tear (DT) specimens and non-standard three-point bending fracture test specimens was the main focus of the study. The ABAQUS finite element software was used to model the elastic–plastic behaviour of the specimens. The cracks in the specimens were induced by pressing the notch followed by fatigue cracking at 30–40% of the limit loads. The shapes of these cracks were adequately modelled in the finite element analysis. The specimens were made of 350WT steel and 304 stainless steel materials and were loaded until fixed amounts of permanent deformation were recorded. Results were obtained in the form of plots, showing the progression of the plastic zone around the crack tip. For each case, mid-point plastic deflection, stretch zone width and plastic zone radius were computed.